Tuesday, May 24, 2011

My art, in Tennessee (again!)...

As I wrote about in this post and this post, prolific and talented writer and blogger Daryl L.L. Houston of Tennessee, has been one of the most encouraging and visible supporters of this Moby-Dick illustration project. It's been fascinating and wonderful for me to see how this project has impacted other people's lives, and in Daryl's case, he was fond enough of one of my illustrations to get a large and fantastically well done tattoo of it on his back.

Naturally it followed that when the time finally came to begin selling this art, Daryl should be the new owner of the original illustration. After all, he partially paid for it in blood, flesh and ink. And so it was with great pleasure that, aside from the tiny handful of illustrations that my wife has claimed, Daryl was the very first person to own a piece of art from this project.

I wrote a small, personal note to Daryl on the back of the piece and he was able to frame the art between two pieces of glass so that both the front and the back will remain visible. Here are two images of it hanging on his wall, above a smaller, alternate Moby-Dick illustration I did that he also owns...

Daryl has also written a very kind post at his personal blog with some amusing details about the tattoo and his wife's reaction to it that you should really read right here.

It's a strange but very good feeling to see one of the real, "official" Moby-Dick drawings finally beautifully framed and hanging in someone else's home. I've already sold the handful of alternate illustrations I did, but I've been holding on so tightly to all the of book illustrations for so very long now that, even though I didn't think it would, it feels very good to let them go to new homes now. Especially if those homes are with people who, like Daryl, have been friends and supporters of this project since the very early days, before it was a book or a gallery show or anything.

4 comments:

I was really pleased Daryl did that. I actually don't sign any of my art at all, so it's really rare for me to even write something on the back. Daryl is a great guy though, and it was important for me to do it. It's wonderful to see one of my favorite pieces framed and hanging like this.

Amazing project, Matt! And happy to hear about Daryl. I'm cooking up a Moby-Dick project in my hometown of Nashville (an outloud read-through of the whole book...similar to what's done up in New Bedford). Aiming for this October, the 160th anniversary of M-D's publication. You should come to town! And I'm going to try and reach Daryl, who's just up the road in Knoxville (a 3-hr drive).

You're too kind, Matt (and I didn't know I was getting a rare signed piece -- that makes the thing all the more special). Cewall, you can email me at infinitezombies at gmail. I don't often get over to Nashville, but this might merit a trip. :)